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What are dark spots in hearts and arrows image?

Jul 23

“Hi Danny, I read your blog post about whether an M-color diamond is too yellow for engagement ring with great interest, because I’ve been trying to figure out where to draw the line in terms of diamond color, in an effort to buy my fiancé the largest Brian Gavin Signature round diamond possible for my budget of $7k, and it looks like the 1.517 carat, M-color, VS-2 clarity, BGD Signature diamond might be the perfect solution; however I’m a bit concerned about the black spots that are visible in the hearts image provided on the diamond details page… what are those dark spots, and will they be visible to the naked eye? And how will this diamond look in this rose gold halo ring?” – Joshua H.

What causes dark spots in H&A diamonds?

The dark spots that are visible in some hearts and arrows images, like the one provided above of the hearts pattern which is visible within this 1.517 carat, M-color, VS-2 clarity, Brian Gavin Signature round diamond, when viewed while unmounted through a hearts and arrows scope, is simply a matter of where the light is positioned in relationship to the inclusions, combined with the fact that the scope is equipped with a lens which magnifies the size of the hearts and the inclusions within the diamond.

The light source which provides the illumination necessary for light to reflect off of the pavilion main facets of the diamond, combined with the position of the white discs which create the white reflections that create the hearts pattern, create light which happens to be positioned behind the primary inclusions within the diamond, this causes the inclusions to appear dark in the photograph.

The concept is pretty much identical to how the features of a person will appear dark, when they are being photographed with the sun setting behind them; unless a flash is used to provide additional illumination, the subject being photographed will appear dark; but in this case, we can’t use a flash or an additional light source, because it would make it impossible to properly capture the hearts pattern.

The obvious solution to this dilemma would be to edit the images using photo editing software, it would take only a few seconds to eliminate or minimize the appearance of the inclusions which are visible in the hearts image, however we prefer to provide our clients with an accurate representation of how the hearts images appear within each of our diamonds…

M-color diamond set in 18k rose gold halo ring:

One of the benefits of rose gold, is that it tends to look exceptional set with diamonds that are warmer in tone, so I think that the 1.517 carat, M-color, VS-2 clarity, Brian Gavin Signature round diamond will look amazing in the 18k rose gold Anita halo setting from Brian Gavin. I actually had the opportunity to see a diamond of similar color, set in an 18k rose gold ring awhile back, and thought that the warmer tones of the diamond were complimented by the warmer tones of the rose gold quite nicely; while at the same time, the whiter tone of the accent diamonds provided nice contrast to the center stone, the look was absolutely striking!